20 December 2018

Change of name

Adventure

When I picked the name "Test Adventures" I knew "Test" had to be somewhere in the title since I wasn't very well known and worried people might miss the blog if it wasn't clear what it covered.

The problem though was: What else?

I remember thinking about this for quite some time and I tried many different names. Some were cool but didn't match "me", some felt too generic and some felt too specific, such as "Test Stories" which the blog was actually named for a very short while.

Finally that magic question popped into my head:
How do I look at (my learning of) testing because that's what the blog covers?

The first word that popped up was "journey". It referred to my progression as a tester and the feeling there was still a long way to go... but it just didn't have that "umpf", that feeling of being "me"... but it was close. So I asked another question:
Why is journey good but not right?

Well, it was good because it described my never ending quest to become a better tester and it communicated my view: That this was a journey... but it wasn't just a journey... it was an exciting and daring journey... it was... an Adventure!

I changed the name in an instant and never looked back. Now many years later the name is still something I'm proud of because "adventure" truly describes the way I learn and think: I head out with a vague goal, I face hazards, I discover things and these new things lead me to new adventures.

So it's time to change the name of the blog from Test Adventures to Adventures...


Promoting "Test"

Let's start with some stats:
2012 - 20 posts
2013 - 26 posts
2014 - 15 posts
2015 - 4 posts
2016 - 9 posts
2017 - 4 posts
2018 - 1 posts (this)

What happened after 2014? Well I became a teacher and didn't have any time to write anything so 2015 doesn't really count. 2016 I was almost on track for 1 post a month despite starting slow due to spill over stress from 2015.

2017 is the year when something happened... looking at the posts from that year two cover "organizing peer conferences", one covers learning and one covers leadership/team building... none of them really covers test.

Let's make another list; here I'll try to list my career passions year by year:
2012 - Testing!
2013 - Testing!
2014 - Testing!
2015 - Testing and Teaching
2016 - Testing and Coaching
2017 - People and Coaching
2018 - Coaching! and People

A big reason why this blog has declined in regards to posting frequency is "Test" is not my adventure anymore so exciting adventures I'm ready to share just doesn't fit this blog. What "Test" is however is a loyal companion I bring on my other adventures. So congratulations to the promotion Test, you're no longer just a word in a heading, you're a trusted friend I need by my side!


What does this mean for the blog?

Well, like I said before, it was a while since I actually posted something about "test" (test techniques, test strategy, tester mindset etc.) so what you can expect is more content relevant to testing but not focused on testing. Examples are coaching, learning and culture.

2019 is the start of something new and amazing cause there's plenty of stuff piled up, ready to be written!

Adventure buddies, please say hi to Test!
Test, are you ready for our next adventure?